The effect of light intensity on the rate of photosynthesis.

Extracts from this document...

Introduction

Owen Davies GCSE Coursework The effect of light intensity on the rate of photosynthesis. Plan: Aim: To investigate the affect of light intensity on the rate of photosynthesis. Theory: Before I predict what will happen I must look at how photosynthesis occurs. Photosynthesis is the way plants create a source of food for themselves. Photosynthesis requires the following resources; Carbon Dioxide, Water and light. Inside the leaves of a plant there is a green substance, this substance is known as chlorophyll. Chlorophyll is in the Chloroplast which are cells contained inside a plant. Chlorophyll absorbs sunlight and then makes the energy from the sunlight available for chemical reactions. This shows that Chlorophyll is used to convert light energy to chemical energy. ...read more.

Middle

The sunlight is absorbed from a green pigment in plants called chlorophyll. The chlorophyll is present within the chloroplast of the leaf cells, which the reaction takes place in. Chloroplasts are small green structures found in the cytoplasm of plant cells. Chlorophyll is the substance that gives plants there green colour. It is able to absorb energy from this light. The water molecules are split into hydrogen and oxygen molecules, the oxygen escapes into the atmosphere while the hydrogen is mixed with the carbon dioxide to create sugar. Prediction: I predict that if there is a higher amount of light intensity on the plant the rate of photosynthesis is going to increase due to there being more energy available to be used to create sugar. ...read more.

Conclusion

3. We shall then set the lamp at 20cm then 30 and so on up to 50cm. 4. We shall do it again to make it fair. 5. We shall then record our results. 6. And then plot our graph. Diagram: By Owen Davies Results: Evaluation: During the experiment I found that my prediction was correct in saying that if there is a higher amount of light intensity on the plant the rate of photosynthesis is going to increase, therefore as the light gets further away from the plant a weaker source of energy will be reaching the plant. Conclusion: To make this experiment better I could have done it more times and I could have used a different plant, this would have helped my results and my graph to show my point. I think the experiment worked fine and it proved my prediction and theory was correct. By Owen Davies ...read more.

Related GCSE Green Plants as Organisms essays

The site of photosynthesis For photosynthesis to occur, carbon dioxide, water and light energy must come together where there is chlorophyll in the flowering plant. Leaves, which are usually broad and flat, are the parts of the plant most suitable for photosynthesis.

Light intensity is to be varied by increasing and decreasing the distance from the light source to the plant. Output Variable: * Rate of photosynthesis is to be measured by finding the volume of oxygen produced in a minute at varied light intensities.

I could have done this by means of investigating the amount of starch present in the leaf of the plant (Glucose is converted promptly into starch by plants as it is insoluble, which makes it much better for storing within the leaf).

So they collide more often than at 0 oC, and as they collide with energy higher than the activation energy, they are converted into products like the unstable intermediate and triose phosphate respectively, at a quicker rate. This increases the overall rate of photosynthesis and as the rate of the

Sea herring illustrates the problems of fishing and management policies which focus an a single species. This single species management is not a realistic long-term approach to managing the world's fish. A much more realistic approach is that of multi-species management which considers the effects and changes of fishing on

Chromatography is a technique for separating chemical substances. The separation of colored compounds on paper strips requires the use of a porous material that absorbs liquids and solutions (Figure 4). This material is known as the adsorbent and includes materials such as paper, silica gel and alumina.